cliff or if we do go off the fiscal cliff it will be a small package of some tax increases, some spending cuts, but it's not going to put the economy into a recession. so what i've been telling clients is let's just hold the line right here. let's not sell precipitously. let's wait until we see the outcome. butightow i thinkthe's a real good chance that the outcome could be positive or will muddle our way through this significant problem. >> ifill: let me ask you a question which politicians kept bringing up during this last election which is the that the uncertainty is what makes people nervous in the business world. is this the kind of uncertainty they were talking about? >> it absolutely is. you mentioned before the retail sales numbers for this christmas season and the retail sales numbers for this christmas season were very poor, very soft. this is both individuals and individua affectingcompies making decisions and it's really largely driven by their significant uncertainty about what's going to be their tax rate in 2013. they're really postponing any spending and it clearly affects